OROVILLE &GT;&GT; Oroville residents who pay assessment district fees with taxes and sewer service rates will see some changes in their 2014-15 tax bills.

Tuesday night, the City Council approved the latest reports and resolutions for two benefit assessment districts and for the city's sewer services.

Every year, the council receives an engineer's report about the districts and decide whether to continue levying fees, along with increases or decreases.

Public hearings were held Tuesday on the annual reports about a consolidated benefit assessment district for the city's storm infrastructure and a separate district that covers landscaping and lighting maintenance at several developments.

There was no change in the assessment district for the storm infrastructure. The district was formed as a condition of approving eight development projects; Linkside Place, Foothill Estates, Mission Olive Ranch, Vista Del Oro, Calle Vista Estates unit 2, Martin Ranch, Jake Richter Estates and Acacia Estates.

Each zone is responsible for maintenance of storm drains and other items within the storm infrastructure.

Community Development Director Don Rust said in a phone call Thursday there is zero assessment for the new fiscal year. He added some of those subdivisions now don't exist.

No one from the public commented. Councilors Thil Wilcox and Gordon Andoe excused themselves during discussion and voting on the assessments. The remaining councilors approved the annual assessment for 2014-15 unanimously without discussion.

There were some rate drops and rate increases for the next item, pertaining to the Consolidated Landscape and Lighting Maintenance Assessment District affecting 17 zones, or subdivision projects..

As a condition of approving their projects, developers of 17 projects throughout the city had to establish or annex the subdivisions into a benefit assessment district for landscaping and lighting maintenance. The subdivisions are Grandview Estates, The Buttes, Deer Creek Estates phase 1, Calle Vista Estates unit 1, Cherokee Estates phase 1, Sherwood Estates units 1 and 2, Grayhawk, Cherokee Estates phase 2, Linkside Place phase 1, Foothill Estates, Mission Olive Ranch, and Vista Del Oro.

Only one person commented. August Lincoln, who lives at the Grayhawk subdivision, complained that the fees would increase. City attorney Scott Huber said it was an annual renewal of the same fee, but Lincoln said there was a problem. His bill for 2012-13 was $89, and $158 for 2013-14. He thought it was increasing by $69.

"Where's the money going?" he asked.

He said some of the units have to be fixed up.

Lincoln's wife Eva also addressed the council, adding that the lighting at Grayhawk is bad.

She said an 80-year-old neighbor who has cancer was doing some of the maintenance with her husband.

"I hope you guys do something about this and the lighting," she said. "We have very poor lighting in the area."

It turned out that Lincoln's bill was actually going down to $52.82 in 2014-15.

Rust said at the meeting the city has money for the next fiscal year to do what's needed there.

He also said the lights are going to be replaced. Currently, the street lighting is low and dull. Through a PG&E incentive program, about 600 lights in the city will be replaced with LED fixtures.

"They'll be better, clearer lights," Rust said.

While the Lincolns' bill and is going down, along with rates at other subdivisions in the assessment district, other rates in the same district will increase.

Rust said Thursday that it depends on what work needs to be done in each of the zones.

City Administrator Randy Murphy explained Thursday that each year an engineer reviews the work to be done and what the fund balance is, along with whether revenue needs to be adjusted.

The rate differences vary because at the various lots, the amount of work that needs to be done varies.

"And it depends on the complexity of the work that needs to be done," Murphy said.

At the meeting, Andoe and Wilcox abstained from voting. The council approved the resolution 4-0.

Later the council approved a rate increase on sewer services, which will go from $18.11 to $20.99 per month for a single-family dwelling.

Last year, the council approved fee increases for fiscal years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 to fund the rehabilitation of the city's 66 miles of pipes and manholes, according to a staff report.

The rate is based on the number of fixtures per dwelling. Murphy said the typical dwelling has about 16 fixtures, though some have more or less depending on the size.

The total increase is $35 annually, but people will only be paying a few dollars more monthly.

With Andoe and Wilcox back at the dais, the vote was 7-0 approving the increase.